Mukilteo is a scenic waterfront community on Puget Sound with views of the Olympic Mountains, Whidbey Island, and Cascade Mountains. The name means “good camping ground” and it’s the location of many Indian councils and potlatches. Originally called Point Elliot by white settlers, it was at Mukilteo that the historic Point Elliott Treaty was signed between Governor Isaac Stevens and the chiefs of 22 Puget Sound tribes on January 22, 1855. The treaty ceded Puget Sound land to the US for a variety of benefits.

With its dramatic mountain setting, Skykomish has been shaped by both the rugged natural surroundings and the evolution of the railroad from steam to electric to diesel. Set in the upper Skykomish River valley and occasionally occupied by the nomadic Skykomish “inland people”, the valley was only permanently occupied in the early 1890’s. In its heyday Skykomish had 1700 workers and several thousand residents in town to build Great Northern Railroad’s eight-mile tunnel through Stevens Pass. The Cascade Highway was built and auto related businesses sprang up but in 1939 the city began to diminish as the highway was realigned and after WWII the rail yard began to slow.